Tutorials

Soft Skills

Interactive Interface Management Using Virtual Retinal Display

This seminar proposes a prototype of an ambulatory device for differently abled population with smart interaction through pervasive computing. The existing mobile device has been using either Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal displays (LCD) or Light Emitting Diode (LED) which is the only means of window to connect to the universe. An alternative solution proposed is that to connect with the universe using a (VRD) Virtual Retinal Display, a personal display technique called the Retinal scanning imaging system. The display technique draws a raster display onto the retina of the eye. The user visualizes what appears to be a conventional display floating in the space in front of them. When combined with the gaze detectors and voice recognition modules, it can function as an alternative to real time mobile phones i.e. the visual elements in the display could be controlled by means of eye movement and voice commands. It would also act as an additional advantage for the differently-abled with disabilities in their limbs. So these could be used as an alternative to the existing mobile controlled over voice and eye-movement for those with the above mentioned disabilities.

Interactive interface management in ambulatory devices is to make the interaction of various categories of differently-abled people possible with ease. For those who possess disabled upper or lower or both limbs, interaction is possible via gaze and voice control. For a person with visual disabilities, it could work using voice controls. For a person with hearing and speaking disabilities, it could work by eye movements. The existing product is only intended to provide any ambulatory device that uses a low-cost eye contact sensor to detect for its user in a face-to-face conversation mode through the ambulatory devices. The limitation of these devices is that the prototype is used along with normal mobile phones. To improve the efficiency and decreasing the cost, making it economical we have to make use of the Virtual Retinal Display(VRD), the concept of the speech recognition and gaze detectors. VRD uses a tiny semiconductor laser or special LED’s as light source and collimates the light beam directly into the retina of the eye. This product could be architected by replacing the regular modules in the ambulatory devices with alternative which is mounted on to a spectacle lookalike component. The usual glowing screen displays would be replaced by the VRD. The keypad or the touch sensitive interface would be replaced by the interface that interacts by detecting the eye movement or voice commands given by the user. The ear piece of the device would be replaced by the ear phones that would render uninterrupted audio. The microphone would function, so as to render or input the voice commands given by the user to the controller of the device. Additionally a moveable mini camera is used for the purpose of video calling and video recording.

Virtual Retinal Display is a screen less display that projects an image directly onto the human retina. With the VRD it may be possible to realize higher resolution, greater colour saturation, higher brightness and larger field-of-view than a traditional LCD or CRT screen-based system. Although the technology was invented by the University of Washington in the Human Interface Technology Lab (HIT) in 1991, development did not begin until 1993, the technology still needs much refinement and has only been commercialized in specialized sectors of the display market such as automobile repair and some parts of the military.

VRD consists of 3 units-System unit, Interconnect cable, and Display unit. System Unit contains drive electronics and a light source module. Interconnect cable carries optical fibres and several other electrical conductors between system unit and display unit. Display is either head mounted or helmet mounted. It contains the scanner assembly, pupil expander, viewer optics.